Part 3 of the series we touch on causes 21-31. This study has been truly eye opening. I think the name of the game is to identify any of these traits in yourself and overcome them as soon as possible. In parts 4 and 5 we'll take a comprehensive look at some strategies for overcoming these causes of failure.

So...how did you do? Of the 31 major causes of failure how many are you struggling with. Remember it's ok to admit your faults. In fact until you admit them you'll never do the necessary work to correct or overcome them. The purpose for studying these causes is to see where we fall short and why so we can do something to change it. Also too, it's good to recognize these causes so we can look at our children to see if they are establishing habits that will lead them down the road of failure.

Today we wrapped up all 31 causes the rest of the series we'll focus on solutions for overcoming failure and avoiding the causes altogether. If you need to go back to see both the recorded show and my written commentary of the first 20 causes of failure use the links below to do so.

31 Major Causes of Failure #21-31

#21 The habit of indiscriminate spending - Most people will quickly equate money to success. In fact in a lot of ways for some it's the "only" way to measure success. How many people look at how a person handles their money as a cause of failure? Money problems cause stress and stress causes disease and poor spending habits is a major cause of poverty especially here in America. Being disciplined with money, in particular how we spend our money can keep us out of the way of failure.

#22 Lack of enthusiasm - Have you ever heard the saying, "Success loves speed?" Well success loves positive energy too. Enthusiasm has the power to transform a person, situation, a room. Ever been in a room and that one person, that ball of energy walk in and the entire mood of the room changes. Imagine harnessing this power to transform your business, your finances, your marital relationship, your social group. If you want to be successful, you have to be "Fired Up!"

# 23 Intolerance - The person with a closed mind has volunteered to stop growing. There are only two states of being, you're either growing or you're dying. To be intolerant is to begin the process of dying. Most people keep a closed mind for fear of having their opinion swayed. If you're so week in your position that you can't hear another's argument, you may need to rethink your convictions. Rigid thinking literally puts you on the express lane to failure.

# 24 Intemperance or over indulgence - Napoleon Hill lists in "Think & Grow Rich" the 3 most dangerous as sex, alcohol and eating. Today you'd have to add drugs, gambling, pornography and a list of other things but the bottom line is this. Too much of just about anything can be unhealthy but you can have some unhealthy habits and still have success. The aforementioned list will flat out cause almost immediate failure when you over indulge.

# 25 Inability or unwillingness to cooperate with others - At some point we'll dedicate an entire blog to this one but for now lets just say this is probably one of the biggest causes of failure of all time. No one has success on an island, it's always a collaborative effort. People with the inability and unwillingness to work with other will turn people off and cause does to close very quickly around them. In which case it's easy to find yourself on an island but in this case is one in which your forced to do things on your own. That's not a good place to be if you want long term sustainable success.

#26 Possession of power that was not earned through self effort - This is the sudden success or instant riches syndrome. When one acquires wealth, power and position through their own efforts, over time, there is a certain character development that takes place. Give someone the same measure of wealth, power or position who has not earned it and that in 99% of cases is a sure recipe for failure.

#27 Intentional dishonesty - This one goes without saying. You may get by with it a time or too but eventually the law of reciprocity will catch up with you. Quite easy to see what this results in failure.

#28 Egotism and vanity - If you want to run people away from you this is a sure fire way to do it. That is why it leads to failure, no one wants to work with vain people with ego problems.

#29 Guessing instead of thinking - Critical thinking is a skill that has been long absent from the lion's share of society. We are taught in schools to memorize facts instead of think, then outside of school 90% of our opinions are given to us by the media and entertainment outlets. Guessing though and making decision without even the slightest attempt to fact check and come to your own conclusion can definitely lead to disaster.

#30 Lack of capital and creativity - Lack of capital is definitely an issue when it comes to business but a lack of creativity can cause utter failure in almost every other area in your life. Success is not built in a day and it's never easy. A creative mind though can make it easier as there will be times when you run into obstacles. Often time the difference between overcoming a challenge is one's own level of creativity.

Part 2 of our series on the 31 Causes of Failure according to the great Napoleon Hill. Be sure to catch part 1 if you missed it.

There are lots of reasons that people fail. Napoleon Hill in his classic book "Think & Grow Rich" narrowed it down to 31 major causes. As we continue with our study don't be afraid to be brutally honest with yourself and assess whether or not you have any of these traits or habits. The only way to overcome them is to first recognize they exist, the analyze their negative affects then work diligently to change them.

31 Major Causes of Failure #11-20

#11 Lack of Controlled sexual urge - Sexual urge is a powerful driving force. Just as with any force of power if not properly controlled it could cause irreparable damage. I can testify to the fact that transmuting this energy to something positive and creative can elevate a person. However turning this control over to someone else on the other hand can be outright detrimental. We've seen men rob, cheat and steal while under the control of a woman manipulating control of sexual urge. Likewise we've seen women battered, bruised and coerced to do strange things when they hand over control of this energy to men.

#12 Uncontrolled desire for "Something for nothing," - Seems as if this one plagues the black community more than any other culture, but I could be wrong. I have experience and encountered countless lottery players, gamblers and opportunity seekers that are all looking for success and not willing to put forth any effort. All looking for an easy way out or a way to get rich quick with minimal effort. We all have a little bit of this in us. Society is quick to highlight those that have some measure in which the have literally done nothing to achieve, therefore it creates a false sense of hope in millions of people. They're hoping if they find themselves in the right place, at the right time they'll receive a windfall of success that they did not work for.

#13 Lack of defined power of decision - This one is another one that is seems easy to overcome but it's obviously not because so many people struggle with it. These are the people that can't make up their mind, the sit on the fence for weeks before making a decision and in most cases the circumstance makes the decision for them. They wait and wait until the opportunity is gone, always talking about what they were going to do, but waited too late. This issue is crippling the black community, because if you can't make a decision you can't take action. That's what we see a lot of in our community, no action and it's because people are afraid to make a decision.

#14 One or more of the six basic fears - We all struggle with fear and it's understandable. However, the only way to overcome fear is to educate yourself about that which makes you afraid. If you continue to live in fear because you refuse to educate yourself then fixing that problem is an inside job.

#15 Wrong selection of mate in marriage - The bible speaks of being "unequally yolked" spiritually, and that can be very detrimental to a marriage. Being unequally yolked in other areas can also be as detrimental if not more. Think about the area of finance, how long and a serial spender stay in a relationship with a serial saver. Ambition is another area that must be consider, can a go getter stay with a no getter? One of the 7 common keys of self-made millionaire is the fact that they married well. Not married a person with money but married a person that they were equally yolked with in several areas of life.

#16 Over Caution - One of the contributing factors to indecision is over caution. How long does it really to take to do your research, weigh the pros and cons and make a decision. There is nothing wrong with a healthy skepticism but some people literally take it too for. It's my belief though, that they use this tactic as we way to keep from making a decision. People literally stay in study mode forever. At some point you have to get in the field and put into practice that which you have learned. So there is a such thing as too cautious. Life is filled with both risks and rewards but you'll never get the latter until you're willing to sacrifice for the former.

#17 Wrong selection of associate in business - Just as you want to select the right person in marriage, business partnerships are similar to that of a marriage. The same applies, there must be balance and you must be equally yolked, not in as much as having the same beliefs but definitely wanting the same things. Do your skill sets compliment one another or do they contradict one another.

#18 Superstition and prejudice - To be prejudice means you're pre-judging, I'm sure that has ever been an effective way to evaluate anything. it's almost like being over cautious, your judging whether or not something can be effective in helping you achieve success before giving it a shot. Superstition is just another form of fear. Not that fear is bad, as fear in terms of respect is a good thing and causes you to proceed with caution but at the end of the day you proceed. Some superstitions are just without merit and should be dismissed.

#19 Wrong selection of vocation - The ultimate goal should be to find 1 or 2 ways to get paid for 1 or 2 things that you absolutely love to do. However until you find that perfect situation, especially if you have youth on your side, you should be looking at a vocation that creates the most opportunity to create positive cash flow in your life. In addition to positive cash flow you should be looking at other upsides as well like knowledge that can be gained, relationships that can be leveraged in the future etc. Robert Kiyosaki said in "Rich Dad Poor Dad" that wealthy people don't work for money. While I believe that to be true they do work for other forms of wealth that can be leveraged and easily converted into money. All of these things should be considered when choosing a vocation.

#20 Lack of concentration of effort - The proverbial "Jack of all Trades, master of non!" In today's society all the big bucks are doled out to those who specialize. Just ask yourself, "who makes more money?" is it the general practitioner or the brain surgeon? Most people have heard it said the wealthy people have multiple streams of income and they try to put their hands in many things in hopes to become wealthy. What they fail to realize is those wealthy people have multiple streams that all derive from the 1-2 things that they specialize in. Take one of my virtual mentors for instance Grant Cardone who specializes in sales and real estate. He has an explosive sales training company the creates a stream from that expertise, he has books, seminars, digital products and more that create additional streams from that one area of expertise.

Cardone is also an expert real estate investor. He makes a ton of money from own multi family apartment complexes. out of that expertise he also sells books, digital products, and workshops on how to become a successful real estate investor. I wouldn't be surprised if he owned a property management company to manage his properties and those of others creating even more streams of income but they all come from his area of expertise. If you're not careful you can very easily end up with multiple puddles that don't amount to much of anything in your pursuit of multiple streams.

Be sure to stay tuned for the rest of this series. Also leave us a comment below and share this blog if you got value from it. Until next time, get your money up because you absolutely can do it, but more importantly, you deserve it.

The basic idea is this, according to Deut. 8:18 "God gave us the ability to create wealth" but if you use that ability to create wealth for someone else and NOT yourself, that's your fault. I see so many people doing just that. Don't get it twisted I'm not bashing jobs or anyone who has one but I think it's important that of all the time energy and effort we put into a job we have to put some into creating something for ourselves. While not everyone can run a business, everyone can own a piece of one.

We all know that talented brother, cousin, aunt, friend that needs someone to invest in them to get them to the next level, that someone could be you. You don't have to run the day to day operations, you can be a silent partner. I have come to find out that our thoughts about business are completely warped. For whatever reason we seem to despise humbled beginnings. All business start off small, we just never heard of them until they were giant household names.

God blessed you with gifts, use them to build wealth for you!

There is a reason God blessed you with the special gifts and talents that you possess, so you can build wealth for your family. I'm not saying go quit your job tomorrow, but what I am saying is that you have to know that you're worth more than what you're getting from your job. Well at least most of you. I get that some people are completely fulfilled in their current job. Most however are putting up with a bunch of crap in the name of putting food on the table.

Sit down right now and take inventory of your gifts and talents. Now ask yourself, how many people are companies do you know that are getting paid from those same gifts, talents and skills right now. Next ask yourself, why are you getting paid the same way. No matter what your special gift or talent is, someone is willing to pay you to do it for them, show them how to do it, or buy products and services from you because of your expert opinion. So as I stated earlier, if you're using your gifts, talents, time and make others rich and not making yourself rich in the process...that's your fault.

You do realize that it costs zero dollars for a tax id number (irs.gov). You can build a website for FREE using services like Wix & Weebly. Register for a fictitious name/dba with your secretary of states office for less than $20. Grab a domain name for less than that. Where are we, like $50 bucks so far for a business where you can build equity for your family. Chances are you already involved in activities that could be making you money, you're just doing it for free.

It takes more ambition and will to start a business than it does money. So the next time you get ready to fix your lips to say the reason you have not start building your own empire is because of money, think twice and come up with another excuse. The old cliche "where there's a will, there's a way" has never been more true than when it comes to building a future for your family. If you want it bad enough you can do it, and you will do it. The question I guess is why do so few possess the will and desire to make it happen. Perhaps we'll tackle that on a future episode.

A look back at this weeks shows

Thursday we started a series where we'll be diving into the all-time classic by Napoleon Hill "Think & Grow Rich." We're looking at the 31 Major Causes of Failure in the 1st three episodes then we'll provide some practical solutions in episodes 4 & 5.

​On Wednesday we talked about the power of auto-suggestion in a show titled "Think About What You're Thinking About." Most people don't understand how to control the subconscious mind and even fewer understand that the subconscious mind is directly connect to Infinite Intelligence. Therefore tapping into the subconscious mind is tapping into the source of all things. Everything you want for yourself lies in your ability to tap into the subconscious mind.

Tuesday was the start of the week for us because we were off on Monday as was most of America in observance of Dr. Martin Luther King's birthday. We talked extensively about the art of being blessed. I know there are some people that would not agree with the notion that there is an art or skill to being blessed, but it's true. The Bible gives some very specific insight into how to be blessed and we outlined 7 Keys to Being Blessed.

As always we so appreciate the love and support. Please comment below and share this blog with others. Also your support of our sponsors help us do what we do without the need to ask for donations so please continue to support our sponsors and be sure to let them know that you heard about them on Talking Money in the Morning LIVE!

As a person that's extremely optimistic and solutions oriented even I recognize the need to study failure. Sometimes it's a matter of learning what NOT to do to succeed.

Today we continue our study of Napoleon Hill's "Think & Grow Rich" with the first of a 5 part series on the 31 Major Causes of Failure. Most successful people will tell you that they've learned more from their failures than their success. Therefore we're going to look at the major causes of failure in the first 3 parts of this series and in the last two parts we'll look at practical solutions to avoid or overcome the things that causes one to fail.

Studying failure teaches what NOT to do but it also by default helps you develop success habits. While success is not achieved in a day, it is achieved "Daily" by the habits you establish. As we all know, were a sum total of the decisions that we've made up until this point. Studying failure or the things that cause failure can give you a better shot at developing the daily habits you'll need to have success in every area of your life.

Our entire human existence is based on relationships. However very few people have learn how to cultivate and maintain healthy ones. In fact as sad as it may sound some people have never truly experienced a healthy relationship.

On Fridays it's all about you. I love to help people explode their brands so we do live Q&A with the Youtube audience and try to help them build their brands. Gotta question post in the comments below and we'll do our best to help.

Monday through Thursday on "Talking Money in the Morning LIVE!" I choose the topics but Fridays it's all about your. This weeks Free Business Coaching Friday with the Financial Health Mentor featured a case study of my good friend Evan Jefferson.

Evan Jefferson is a certified financial educator and serial entrepreneur and investor. He's also the author of the book "The Black Billionaires Club," a study of the 12 black billionaires of out time. Today Evan has sold over 750 copies internationally and he self published and self distributed this masterpiece. Today we discuss some of the critical elements that went into Evan's success.

Why Build a Brand?

As a branding and marketing coach I'm always amazed when I see business owner/entrepreneurs put very minimal effort into their brand. What's even more baffling is the number of business owners that don't even know what a brand is. A company's brand is their message, it's what the company represents in the market place. If it were a human being the brand would be the personality marked by very specific and distinct character traits. For a business, those character traits are marked by colors, logos, images, tag lines etc. The brand is embedded in each of these things individually so that each represents the company as they stand alone, but when combined there is no mistake what's being represented.

Think for a second about the most famous "Golden Arches" in the world. Without a second thought you instantly thought McDonald's. What do you have that's the equivalent to the McDonald's "Golden Arches?" OK so your business is new, have you decided on something that will become to your company what the "Golden Arches" are to them? If not it's only because you haven't yet come to understand the power that lies within a brand.

If you're building a business and you're not focusing on building a brand, are you really building a sustainable business? I guess, only time will tell, but I'd say emphatically, the answer is no. As with life, there are many ebbs and flows in business but one thing usually remains the same and that's the brand. There has to be a constant, the one thing that the company is know for above all else. Products, services, business models, visions etc., they all change but the brand if done right can sustain a company throughout the transitions.

750 Copies Sold Internationally

Let's take a look at what Evan Jefferson, author of "The Black Billionaires Club" has done as a result of building his brand. Using the power of social media, mainly Facebook Live, Evan has been able to build a tribe of faithful followers. As a certified financial educator Jefferson brings a unique perspective to financial literacy the his followers have come to enjoy. He's basically has gotten them to know, like and trust him based on what he does best, educate. He has a knack for breaking down complex financial things and making them simple and easy to understand. He literally pours into his following weekly for free. As a result of servicing his community for free, it only makes since that said community would support Evan in return by purchasing his products and services.

750 books sold may not seem like a lot but when you factor in the other genius element and you'll see how significant this is. Because Evan self published and self distributed the book all of the profit goes to him. 750 times $20 per copy is $15,000, mostly profit. I don't know what it cost him to put it together but lets say hypothetically he paid $1000 for art work and editing, another $2000 to print the books and another $1500 in postage to ship the books, that still leaves Jefferson with over $10,000 in profit. Remember, his tribe or customer base was already built using Facebook Live for free, so there was little to no marketing costs other than his time.

Now do you see the benefits of building a brand. Note also that this is just 1 of Evan's many products. As the brand continues to grow and provide feedback regarding their problems, Evan now has the ability to continue to develop products that serve their specific needs. That's incredibly powerful! In stead of creating products that he hopes people will buy, he's able to take feedback from his following and create products that he already knows the want. In fact, Evan took it further by pre-selling this book and in essence raised the capital to produce the product that was pretty my demanded by his followers.

As you can see, Jefferson has not only put in place a sustainable business model but also one that can be duplicated over and over. It all started with serving people while build a strong brand in a targeted space and service that community solutions to their problems. Star building your brand now.